Critic Reviews

Super Baseball 2020 is a nice diversion from typical, statistics-orientated baseball games. It offers all the thrills and chills of traditional baseball, with some great new twists and outrageous two-player action. In the year 2020, baseball is super!

No one should blow a gasket because the SNES game’s field is washed out or how the Genesis players don’t teleport into the batter’s box quite like they do in the arcade. While these are certainly valid differences to bring up in any side-by-side comparison, the fact remains that Super Baseball 2020 in any form is a fun and exciting take on the sport. I don’t think we’ll be watching robots playing sports in six years given the lack of progress in that arena, but I know I will still find myself enjoying Super Baseball 2020 for being a fun game of baseball on any system. The solid, familiar gameplay makes it easy to jump in for a game, and the unique presentation keep Super Baseball 2020 relevant even as we march into a future that the game clearly didn’t foreshadow.

The ultra-modern sound effects are imaginative and not at all annoying. But below all the glitz is an arcade baseball game that isn't as wild as it wants to be. The gameplay is pretty much like any other baseball game, except for less home runs, fewer fouls, and more off-the-wall action. Sure you can buy power-ups during the game, but they don't do much more than give you more power at the plate. Yes, there are land mines in the field, but since the fielders are mostly computer-controlled, there's not much running around going on. In fact, the fielders always seem in the right position to catch the long fly balls (which take an eternity to come down). This is one of those games that seems great at first, but ultimately won't get much playtime in your Genesis.